Over past few years I have been using Android since the
Galaxy S3 came out. My only gripe with
Android is you don’t get the same integrated visual voice mail like iPhones
have. Yes AT&T / Cricket have apps
to give you visual voice mail but it’s a watered down version with few features
that does not integrate well with Android.
Then I read about CCF (Conditional Call Forwarding). This is a feature that most carriers
support. It allows you to call forward
unanswered calls to a different service.
Many of us already use gMail and can setup a free Google Voice account. By forwarding your unanswered calls to Google
Voice you get much better integration with the Android operating system. The notification bar works beautifully with
voice mails now. You also get transcribing in your notification bar! I rarely listen to my voice mails anymore, I
can read them easily with excellent results.
And another great feature, I can manage and listen to my voice mails
from my Windows PC.
To use CCF you bring up your dial pad on your phone. You need to type this into the phone:
**004*yourgooglevoicenumbergoeshere#
So replace ‘yourgooglevoicenumbergoeshere’ with your GV phone number including area code. You then press the send/talk button and the code is sent to your carrier. You should get a response from your carrier if the code was accepted.
That’s it! AT&T /
Cricket will now forward unanswered calls to your Google Voice account. Make sure to install the Google Voice app to
access your voice mails. If you want to
disable CCF type the following into the dial pad:
#004#
Then press send/talk.
** 2018 update **
It's been reported that Pixel phones won't work with the CCF. You have a couple of options. You can call Cricket support and ask them to configure your CCF for you. The issue here is many of the support staff at Cricket won't know what you are talking about. The other option which I feel is easier is find a friend with a phone you can borrow for a couple of minutes.
Shutdown both your friend's phone and your Pixel phone. Then swap your SIM into the other phone and power up and enter the CCF. Then power down your friend's phone and move the SIM back to your Pixel phone. The CCF is stored on the Cricket network, not your phone so it will work with any phone.
Google Voice app:
